Shaelyn Martin charges back into action for K-State women’s basketball

Sunday

Nov 12, 2017 at 1:04 PM

Ken Corbitt

MANHATTAN — There was some doubt, but really not much, that senior Shaelyn Martin would play in the Kansas State women’s basketball season opener.

Martin missed both exhibition games due to a hand injury, but this was a game that counted. So the 6-foot-1 forward was in the starting lineup for the 74-49 victory over Stephen F. Austin last Friday.

"There was never going to be a doubt in my mind," said Martin, from Salina. "I was determined and set that goal, but I had to listen to my body. If it would have been too bad, it’s not worth risking the first game of the season. Honestly, I wanted to do whatever is best for the team. If it was best for me to play, great, and if it wasn’t, I was willing to take either role.

"It was just a great feeling to get back on the floor with my teammates. It’s been over five weeks since I got to play with them as a group."

Wildcats coach Jeff Mittie had his concerns about Martin’s availability.

"She practiced in and out the last couple of days but she took a hit (Thursday) and was pretty sore and swollen," Mittie said. "I was a little bit concerned about her being able to go. I would have told you (Thursday) before practice that she was good to go and then after practice I didn’t know if she would be able to go or not.

"You get through it OK?" Mittie asked Martin at the postgame news conference.

"Yeah, I feel great," Martin replied.

"There you go," Mittie said.

Martin had the ring and little fingers on her right hand taped together and showed no adverse effects with a stellar stat line: 9 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 4 turnovers in 29 minutes. She made the only field goal she attempted, and was 7 of 8 at the free-throw line.

"I thought Shae did a lot of things we needed," Mittie said. "She went to the middle of the floor early in this game and got the ball there. She relieved some pressure off our guards to help them. She got two charges right away, just did a lot of things she does — got to the free-throw line."

Martin is known for taking charges on defense, and she displayed that knack right away. She drew a charge at the 6:24 mark of the first quarter and another with 8:25 left in the second quarter, raising her career total to 68 charges taken.

"Anything I can do to raise the energy on the floor, and I knew immediately if I could get a charge early in this game the energy was going to swing our way and, fortunately, I was able to do that," she said.

"Her taking the charges is such an uplift," said senior forward Kaylee Page, who scored a game-high 18 points in the victory over SFA. "It really gets us going. Her game in the middle of the floor and getting to the free-throw line are daggers to the other team."

The Wildcats (1-0) play the second of three games in eight days against Omaha (0-1) at 7 p.m. Monday at Bramlage Coliseum.

Contact Ken Corbitt at (785) 295-1123 or @KenCorbitt on Twitter.

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